Malaysia is a tropical country located at latitude 1° – 7° north, and longitude 100° – 119° east of the equator.
It covers a total area of 329,758 square kilometres, and encompasses Peninsular Malaysia (West Malaysia) and the states of Sabah and Sarawak (East Malaysia) on the island of Borneo.
The South China Sea separates Peninsular Malaysia from Sabah and Sarawak by a distance of 720 kilometres.
Malaysia comprises 13 states: Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Perak, Perlis, Pulau Pinang, Sabah, Sarawak, Selangor, Terengganu and the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya, which are administered by the Federal Government.
Peninsular Malaysia is bordered by Thailand to the north; it is separated from Indonesia by the Straits of Melaka on the west; with Singapore lying to the south, across the Straits of Tebrau. Sabah and Sarawak share a common border with the Indonesian province of Kalimantan to the south side and the Philippines lies to the north.